How It All Came To Be
by RedGlasses22
Summary: A story about James and Lily in their final two years at Hogwarts and how they went from hating each other to loving each other. Rated T to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is my first ever fanfic. I've read other Jily fanfiction and that inspired me to try and write my own. Any constructive criticism would be much appreciated and I sincerely apologise for any spelling, grammar and punctuation mistakes. Thank you! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of this as I am not JK Rowling :)**

James Potter leaned back in his seat as he listened to Professor Hollenbeck drone on about how essential Defence against the Dark Arts is. He casually settled into his favourite past-time: watching Lily Evans. Unlike him, she was staring intently at their Professor and James could see her taking in every word. She'd styled her hair differently today; it framed her face in loose curls and made her eyes stand out even more than they usually did. Lily also had-

James' train of thought was abruptly interrupted by Professor Hollenbeck announcing to the class that there was going to be partner work for the next month. He felt someone jab his side and he swivelled around to face one of his best mates- Sirius Black.

"Here's to hoping we can work together," whispered Sirius with a huge goofy grin plastered onto his face.

"You know that we would never get _anything _done if we were to work together," James replied with a snort.

Sirius pondered for a moment before answering. "It'd be a right laugh all the same."

James light-heartedly rolled his eyes as he turned back to the front of the room. All the Professors knew that Sirius Black and James Potter would never get anything done together as they'd both distract each other with their antics. Everyone wondered when these two 6th year pranksters would grow up and stop dedicating their entire lives pranking and having a laugh with the other Marauders who were only slightly more mature.

Professor Hollenbeck turned and started to write the names of the pairs on the blackboard behind him as he continued explaining to them the importance of this project. James' eyes scanned through quickly to find the pairings he actually cared about.

_Sirius Black and Remus Lupin_

_Peter Pettigrew and Joanne Clark_

_J__ames Potter and Lily Evans_

He heard a loud groan from the other side of the room and he turned to see Lily Evans with her head in her hands. Let's just say that James Potter hadn't been her absolute _favourite_ person since the incident last year and he knew it. It was a mixture of hurt and anger that James felt after he heard her reaction to their pairing. The idea of him being able to cause Lily pain did upset him but he hadn't been the sole reason for the demise of her and Snape's friendship. In his head, he shared as much guilt as the other Marauders did and vastly less guilt than Snape who had been the one to call her that word. Furthermore, he felt that Lily had been way too harsh on him and had no right to groan just at the _idea _of having to

spend a little extra time with him.

Lily moved over to the seat that Sirius had recently vacated so that she could be next to James. He turned and gave her a smug smile,

"Looks like destiny has brought us together again Evans,"

"It's so sweet that your nickname for Professor Hollenbeck is destiny, Potter."

She turned to face James and he ran a hand through that _stupid _hair as they made eye contact. This had probably been some of her worst luck in a while. In her opinion, the giant squid would make a better partner both academically and romantically and she had told him as much. James Potter was an arrogant bully who terrorised the whole school with his pranks and god awful hair; having to spend some time with him over the next month would probably make the next month of her life a very long one. This is not how she had wanted to start her 6th year at Hogwarts.

"I assume you don't know what the project is about seeing as you were too busy chatting with Black,"

"Aw Evans, were you keeping an eye on what I was doing?"

Lily, much to her annoyance, blushed as he asked her this but quickly replied,

"No - you're just awful at keeping your voice down and can we _please _just start getting this project done."

To her relief, James obeyed and, after Lily told him what the project was about, both of them started to read about and make notes on shield charms.

* * *

"You cannot be serious Lily! James is a total dreamboat and if any other girl in our year was in your position they'd be over the moon!"

Lily sat on her bed and regretted ever trying to rant to her roommate and friend, Paige Chelli, who had zilch understanding of why she thought Hogwarts would be a better place without James Potter strutting around in its hallways. Lily only had one friend who understood where Lily's hatred came from and she was currently with her boyfriend: Frank Longbottom. Alice would have definitely been a better ear than Paige. Lily used to be able to share her hatred of Potter with Sev, but she had turned her back on him last year.

"He's good at quidditch and has a great body because of that, has really cool friends, has great hair and he _likes _you! I'm really not seeing what your huge problem here is Lily,"

Lily gave up at that point and just nodded along to all the reasons why James Potter was God's blessing to this earth. She zoned back in just as she heard Paige say,

"I noticed Snape staring at you and Potter in DADA today,"

This was nothing unexpected to Lily. Sev had been begging her forgiveness for a while now but had not got the hint after many icy looks had been sent his way. However, Lily did not want to talk about Sev to Paige and she didn't walk to talk about James either so she decided that the best course of action would be to just head down to the Library.

* * *

Lily spent two happy and peaceful hours at the Library half doing her transfiguration homework and half thinking about James Potter. She had the self awareness to recognise that she was stubborn and to realise that James probably didn't deserve _all _of the grief she was giving him. Yet, whenever she looked at his face smirking at her after he did anything at all; it brought her worst side out. Yes, he probably didn't deserve that but Lily didn't see any point in trying to make amends with him. Lily was so deep in thought about James Potter that she didn't notice the footsteps coming up to her table.

"We need to talk Lil,"

She looked up to see Snape's cold, dark eyes boring into her own. She promptly looked back down at her Transfiguration homework. His hand suddenly reached out and pulled her Transfiguration away from her. Left with no obvious alternative, Lily listened to Snape's insistent grovelling.

"I really didn't mean what I said last year to you; Potter and his cronies got me in a rage and it just slipped out in the heat of the moment. I'm not a blood supremacist or a Death Eater and never will be; you mean too much to me"

Lily had enough intelligence to see that this was a pathetic excuse but after listening to Paige simper over Potter and having Alice only listen to her rants, she'd started missing having someone who shared her opinions about Potter. Looking back on it, she wasn't sure if it was her need to rant or a part of her heart trying to bring the Sev from her childhood back that made her say what she said next.

"Alright Sev, I'll give you another chance. Meet me in the dungeons tomorrow at 6 and we could perhaps brew a potion together."

She saw the glimmer of hope in his eyes as he agreed and strode out of the Library. Lily hoped that she hadn't just made a huge mistake.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hello again! This is pretty much another chapter of me trying to set the plot up. However, I do feel that I should forewarn you that the incident with Snape going into the Whomping Willow has not happened yet because I wanted to use it in 6th year :) I also got my first ever review on the last chapter and it made me smile so so much (I did a happy dance!) so thank you! Without further ado/blabbering, enjoy this next chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I haven't made JK Rowling do the second chapter for me and she owns Harry Potter which makes this not mine.**

Lily woke up ready to enjoy her first Saturday back at Hogwarts. She adored the extra lie-in and the time to enjoy Hogwarts' grounds or spend some time with your friends that the weekends usually offered. This Saturday was slightly different however; Lily had to work with James on the project, spend some time potion-brewing with Snape and do her patrols with Remus. Lily didn't mind being busy because that meant she was getting stuff done.

She headed down to breakfast with her roommates: Paige, Alice and Marlene. They sat down at the Gryffindor table and all helped themselves to the delicious cooked breakfast that Hogwarts offers. They chatted about their plans for the day until Marlene nodded towards the doors to the Great Hall where the Marauders were making their entrance. They smiled, waved and bowed comically as they walked in, much to the delight of the younger students.

"The _arrogance,_" muttered Lily under her breath and Alice shot her a reprimanding look. "As long as _he_ doesn't sit near us I'm fine." Alice just rolled her eyes and continued eating after that statement.

The Marauders casually slid into the seats next to them moments later.

"Good morning ladies," announced Sirius as he sat down next to Lily who gave him an amused smile in reply. Remus shot her an apologetic look as he sat down next to Paige. Out of all the Marauders, Remus was definitely Lily's favourite. He was made a prefect in 5th year like her and, since then, had become friends with Lily. She didn't understand why he hung out with the likes of Sirius Black and James Potter.

Remus glanced over at Lily "We still doing our patrol tonight?"

She nodded "Nothing has come up with me that means I can't do it."

After that little conversation, they were all surprisingly quiet except for Remus and Paige who were making polite conversation about the weather. Paige had always had a small crush on Remus Lupin but, because of his introversion, had never done anything about it.

Lily ate her fill and said goodbye to the occupants of the table so that she could get her stuff ready in the Library for her James' project.

* * *

James was lazing on his bed in his dormitory when Moony reminded him that he had to go meet Lily in the Library. He checked his watch. _Damn! _He was already half an hour late. He grabbed his bag and high tailed it down to the Library. Lily was sitting at a table in the corner, her brow furrowed deep in concentration. James loved it when she was like; it meant that she wasn't plotting his death or anything. That would probably change, he realised, in the next ten seconds.

He sat down and gave Lily a sheepish smile "I got a little sidetracked but I am now ready to invest _all_ my brain cells into this project."

"Not sure why he is using the plural" He heard her mutter under her breath.

They worked in stony silence because James figured that was how Lily wanted it and Lily had nothing to say to him. However, when the silence became all-consuming, James tried to do something about it.

"Couldn't you try and be a little friendlier, Evans. I mean, we _are _going to have to be working together for the next month and I don't see why we shouldn't try and make that pleasant."

That had been entirely the wrong thing to say. Lily did not appreciate the implication that she was in the wrong for not talking to James Potter. As far as she was concerned, it would be a waste of breath.

"_Arse_," She thought to herself "_One thing isn't going his way and that is somehow my fault_"

Lily only gave him a cold look in response.

"I'll take that as a no then" he huffed before getting back to work

That was the most they communicated for the rest of the hour they had scheduled together.

* * *

Lily opened the door to the Potions classroom to see Snape and Professor Slughorn having an excited conversation about Snape's latest potion.

"Lily, m'dear!" Slughorn boomed when he caught sight of her standing in the doorway. "It's a good afternoon when I have my top students in the same room!"

Lily blushed slightly as she made eye contact with Sev, who gave her a slight smile. Neither of them had been expecting Slughorn to be in the Potions classroom on a Saturday afternoon.

"I came in here to collect my 3rd years' essays and was delighted to find Severus here," Slughorn continued "We had an enchanting conversation about Felix felicis. I assume you two are here to brew another of your own potions? It's certainly been a while since you two did that together!"

Both of them nodded; they were willing Slughorn to just leave. After a little bit more chatter Slughorn left the classroom whilst muttering about all his old students who should probably meet them.

Snape had already prepared the cauldrons and ingredients so it was easy for them to both get going on the brewing. They made casual small talk for a few minutes until Sev, predictably, brought up the Marauders. One might think he was just as much a fan of them as many of the girls in their year.

"I saw who you were sitting with at breakfast today," Snape said cautiously, glancing at Lily's reaction out of the corner of his eye.

Lily shrugged. "They just came and sat next to us, it was no big deal."

"I hope you realise the dangers of conversing with a werewolf."

"For goodness sake Sev! Not this again! When has Remus given you _any _grounds to suspect that he's a werewolf? This is _just _because of you hating the Marauders and, frankly, it's pathetic."

Lily had her suspicions about Remus and lycanthropy but there was no way that she was going to discuss that with Sev as she figured he'd only use it against him. This made her wonder why she was even friends with Sev again.

"_But Lily, _I've been looking into it further and I've found some really damning evidence that-"

Lily had heard enough. "Just _stop, _Sev. How many ashwinder eggs should I put in?" She said quickly, trying to change the subject.

"Two should do it."

* * *

That evening, Lily was doing her rounds with Remus and they were having a conversation about Slytherin house.

"I think there is an unfair stereotype around Slytherin house," Lily was saying "Not all of them are as evil as they are made to seem"

Remus smiled grimly "The problem is Lils, that many of them are as evil as the stereotype and much worse. It can't _really _be a coincidence that most of the dark wizards and witches have come out of Slytherin house."

"I s'pose not, but it's a bit hard on all of the other people in Slytherin"

They walked in silence for a moment as Lily built up the courage to ask her next question which she was fairly sure she was going to regret asking.

"Remus?"

"Mhm?"

"Is your mum _actually _sick every month around the full moon or is there something else going on?"

Remus suddenly stopped walking and was silent for a moment before replying. "I should have expected this really: befriending one of the best, if not the best, witch in our year would lead to yet another person knowing."

Lily looked up at him with a puzzled expression.

He sighed and looked down at the floor. "Yes Lily, I transition every full moon and you're one of the very few people who know."

She bit her lip worriedly, as she didn't like the idea of him suffering, and asked if the others knew. The others being his fellow marauders. Remus smirked as he thought of the Marauders' secret.

"Yeah, they've known since our first year and have never treated me different because of it and for that, I owe them a hell of a lot"

Lily smiled at his obvious adoration for his friends and they continued chatting about his lycanthropy which Lily thought was fascinating; she'd never met anyone that had to put up with so much. She also reassured him that she would also not treat him any differently because of it. All too quickly, they returned to the Gryffindor common room and said their goodbyes. She wondered if she should have told him about Sev's snooping.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Another chapter! I'm updating frequently because I'm not busy right now but that'll change in the next few weeks and I'll slow down. Just a bit of warning :) I hope you'll _fawn _over the pun in this chapter. Alright, I'll leave now but enjoy!**

"You all ready for our boys night tonight?" Sirius whooped as he returned to the dormitory the next night.

"It's not fun and games for all of us, you know," said Remus, who was sitting at his desk writing an essay.

"C'mon Moony, you cannot say that the time that Wormtail thought he'd found a unicorn but it was actually just a sleeping centaur who didn't appreciate us interrupting his nap, wasn't funny"

Peter hmphed at Sirius' words. "There was a huge risk of me getting stamped on though."

Sirius brushed this off. "It comes with the territory. Anyway Prongs, you're awfully quiet tonight. What's got your antler in a twist?"

James rolled over on his bed dramatically. "I fear that Evans may hate me _forever_"

The others gave Sirius a look of warning. When James was thinking about Evans, he probably wouldn't appreciate Sirius taking the mickey. This didn't bother Sirius in the slightest.

"What has the red-headed maiden done now, Prongs? Have she and the giant squid finally made it official?"

"Worse. She's friends with that greasy-haired git _again. _Even after he called her that name! How come she won't speak a pleasant word to me at all when I've done_ nothing_ yet she's cosying up to a future Death Eater?!"

"Erm...maybe she's secretly a shampoo saleswoman?"

At this, Prongs rolled back over on his bed again. He knew that he'd never actually get any advice about females from Sirius. Sure, he was Hogwarts' resident casanova but that didn't mean he had a clue about how the female mind worked.

Sirius shrugged, flopped onto his bed and picked up a Quidditch magazine. He silently vowed that, when he finds a woman to waste that much emotional energy upon, he'd marry her immediately. Sirius didn't want to be an eligible bachelor forever.

A few moments passed before Remus broke the silence with a bombshell. "Evans knows about my furry little problem"

"_What?!" _the other Marauders simultaneously exclaimed.

"She figured it out. I doubt it was that hard really, I look ill in the run-up to full moon and then disappear for a couple of days."

Peter looked sceptical "Does that not worry you Moony? She could use it against you! Why should you trust her? You were in a much better position when only we three, Dumbledore and Madame Pomfrey knew."

"I think we can trust Lily. She's been nothing but kind to me," James rolled his eyes at that but Remus continued "If I was going to tell anyone else, I would have chosen her."

"Alright, I s'pose. It _is _your secret to tell but just don't tell her that we three break the wizarding law every month. We could have a _lot _more trouble then" Peter said as he went back to his homework.

Sirius grinned "If Lily knew about that, James would have to pay _deer-_ly"

There was a collective groan as Sirius smiled proudly before leaving to grab a last-minute snack from the kitchens.

* * *

Snape was absolutely certain that Lupin was half-man and half-beast. In his mind, all he had to do now was prove it to Lily so that she would stay away from Lupin and the other Marauders. He was rushing along the corridor to the Gryffindor dormitory so that he could get Lily and finally explain everything.

"_Oomph_" Snape crashed into someone and fell back whilst desperately flailing his arms about, trying to find something to grab. He landed with a thud on the stone floor.

The person held out a hand. "Ah, my bad, sorry-" Snape looked up to see Sirius Black who quickly withdrew his hand as he recognised Snape. "_Snivellus_. Not looking where you were going, were you?

"I have a more important issue at hand right now, _Black_. 10 points from Gryffindor for being out after curfew."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "What is this big issue then Snivellus? I know how much you like to brag."

"I was just on my way to talk to Lily about Remus' -how shall I put this? - _moon obsession,_" Snape drawled.

Sirius' eyes widened and Snape had the unpleasant surprise of seeing a fire within them.

Sirius took a slow step towards Snape. "_She told you?_" He spat. "Remus was just talking about how much he trusted her and _this _is how she repays that? Alright, Snape, meet us at the Whomping Willow tonight and you can see the _whole _truth."

Sirius stormed off down the corridor and Snape scurried back to his common room, anticipating the scandal there would be when he told the whole school about Lupin's lycanthropy. He sent a note to tell Lily to meet him in the shrieking shack immediately.

Unfortunately, the first year that Snape bullied into delivering the note and breaking curfew had not entirely learnt his way around the castle; Lily got the note an hour later. She realised the danger that Snape going to the Whomping Willow would put both him and Lupin in. Being a Gryffindor, Lily immediately rushed to the meeting place in the hopes that she could turn Snape around before something happened.

* * *

The icy September whipped around Lily as she sprinted down to the whomping willow in her pyjamas. In her rush, she hadn't changed into anything warmer which she was sincerely regretting. Scotland was not a warm place to be at night. The Whomping Willow loomed ahead, casting eery shadows in the light of the bright white full moon. Lily was just in time to see a dark figure dart between the branches and disappear into the tree trunk. She followed, frantically dodging the branches hitting the earth around her. She fell into a small tunnel that had roots waiting to trip her up scattered all over its floor. There was already raised voices coming from the end of the tunnel which spurred Lily onwards. Eventually, she came into a room where the Marauders (all human) were standing watching Snape.

"Dumbledore is going to be _thrilled _to hear about this. His precious Lupin a - _Lily_!"

All five heads pivoted around to stare at her. There was a mixture of emotions: shock, anger, disappointment, all being conveyed on their faces.

"Neither of you should be here," said Remus, who was standing in the far corner of the room. "I'm going to transform in the next few minutes and one of you may get bitten."

Lily couldn't help her curiosity, "But why are _they _here?" She questioned which triggered all the Marauders to give each other awkward looks.

Sirius laughed, "You can't really have the audacity to question us when you're in a room with someone who you know is a werewolf on the full moon."

"I'm here because I was trying to stop Snape coming here and getting himself bitten. I wasn't expecting to see you three,"

"For Merlin's sake, none of this matters!" cut in James, "What matters right now is that Remus is about to transform and you two are still here," He looked to Sirius, "You hold Moony off whilst I accompany these two back to the castle."

Sirius nodded, "I won't be able to hold him off forever so you guys better get going."

James exited the room and gestured for Snape and Lily to follow him. All three of them ran along the passageway and exited the WHomping Willow. They then set off along the grounds at a slightly slower pace but Lily still had to do a half jog to keep up with James' walking pace.

"Why were you down there? Don't you know how dangerous it is down there? You could get bitten...or even killed!"

"Remus needed us," James replied gruffly. "And anyways, it shouldn't be any of your concern."

Snape sniggered, "How _heroic _of you Potter."

Surprisingly, James didn't turn around and hex Snape but continued walking, which Lily was extremely grateful for. A fight would only make this night more complicated.

There was then a ghostly howl from the Whomping Willow and they all turned to see a huge wolf coming out of its trunk.

"_He must have figured out how to hit the knot,_" James realised before ordering Lily to run. he grabbed Snape's hand and they started to sprint back up to the castle. In her panic, Lily lost her footing and stumbled to the ground. Snape ran ahead a few steps before realising that he'd lost Lily and turned around dumbstruck to see a werewolf towering over her. She desperately tried to hex the creature but none of the spells seemed to have any effect. Like a shot, a stag appeared and knocked the wolf backwards. A shaggy black dog promptly joined in herding the wolf backwards and a small mouse ran around on the floor squeaking, distracting the werewolf. Lily thought she had died and was hallucinating before getting back up and running back to the castle with Snape.

They ran into the Entrance Hall and realised that the stag had escorted them.

"Thanks for saving me," Lily said uncertainly and she gave the stag a small smile.

Snape, on the other hand, was not sticking around to talk to the stag and he ran back down to his common room. The stag watched him go and then shifted back into a slight lanky-looking teenage boy with circular glasses and a mop of unruly black hair.

_"James?!"_ Lily cried as she recognised him. "How? W-What? You're a -" Everything started to fall into place as she remembered the events of the night. Sirius and Peter, the dog and the mouse, them being there with Remus. She realised she may have severely misjudged the Marauders.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hi! Things are getting super busy for me right now because I'm moving so I'll be updating less frequently. Sorry that this chapter is short; this needed to happen but it didn't fit with everything else. Anyways, enjoy the chapter and if you have anything to say (good or bad) please leave a review! I really want to improve my writing and feedback would help a lot xx**

Lily and James sat down in the Library together in the next evening to continue with their project. There wasn't an unpleasant atmosphere like there had been previously but something still felt off. They hadn't talked about what had happened yesterday as both James and Lily had been too tired so had headed up to the Gryffindor common room in silence.

Lily was the one who eventually broke the silence.

"James, I'm not sure how to put this - are you an illegal animagus so that Remus has company every full moon?"

"Yep."

"And the others are too?"

He carried on looking at his textbook, "Yep."

"Oh..erm, alright."

Both of them looked back down at their work and an even more awkward silence settled over them.

"I'm sorry about what Snape did and said last night but, trust me, James, I didn't tell him. He has been snooping around for a few months now, trying to find out where Remus goes every full moon. I would never betray Remus like that."

James stopped working and made direct eye contact with her and she was relieved to see understanding in his expression.

"I know, Lily, Sirius doesn't and it will probably take a few weeks before he does. Remus also trusts you and doesn't think you said anything to Snape. Peter is siding with Sirius. I'm not going to get annoyed at them though; the Marauders only work on the idea that we can all trust each other, so the idea that you've betrayed us really upsets Sirius and Peter."

Lily nodded understandingly.

"I'll talk to them in a few days and hope they'll see my side of things. And James, I know I shouldn't be feeding your ego but what you do for Remus is really amazing and brave. Most people could only dream of having a friend that would do that for them."

James smirked, "I knew you'd eventually see that I am the most handsome -" He slowly moved his hand through his hair, "the fittest," He flexed his arm, "and the cleverest wizard in this school,"

Lily smiled and rolled her eyes, "Maybe just one of the kindest."

He held his hand to his chest in mock outrage "Only the kindest?!" he spluttered

"The most handsome is reserved for that other chap you usually hang out with,"

"_Sirius?!_" he cried out but after a moment of thinking said, " Yeah, I suppose that's fair."

She laughed, "C'mon, let's finish this project"

James wasn't so keen to finish talking to Lily. After all, this was one of their first conversations where she hadn't called him 'arrogant' or a 'toerag'.

"So Evans," He said, leaning back on his chair. "What would you say the best thing in your life is right now?" He watched her bite her lip and stare into space for a moment.

"Erm... probably Hogwarts and my family. What about you?"

"It's kind of obvious, isn't it? Definitely the Marauders and Quidditch. The Marauders are probably going to be one of the highlights of my life. It will be hard to find friends like them after school."

Lily hadn't previously comprehended the amount the Marauders meant to him and she felt that this was probably one of his best qualities. There weren't many people she knew that was as loyal and kind to their friends.

"Why doesn't your family make it onto that list?" Lily questioned. It was hard to figure out why someone who cared so much about their friends wouldn't care so much about their family.

He fidgeted slightly and looked away.

"They're both Aurors and they risk their lives on a daily basis. When I was younger that used to worry me constantly: the fear that they wouldn't come back one day. But after I left for Hogwarts that changed, I don't see them everyday and I have other things to worry about. It's not that I don't care but that I just got too used to worrying."

There was a moment of silence as neither knew what to say after that.

"That got a little deep didn't it?" James said and Lily was relieved to see a grin and a twinkle in his eye.

"Extremely. With most of my friends we just talk about school and boys rather than about each other."

"I thought it would be good for us two to get to know each other so it would be harder for us to hate each other again."

Lily glanced at her hands and said softly, "I never hated you; I just had a very strong dislike."

James didn't want to press the matter so pretended not to hear and they spent the rest of the night talking about trivial school matters.

* * *

Lily pretty much skipped back to the common room later that evening. The hour with James had not been bad _at all. _She might have even said it was good. It had been pretty much effortless to talk to James, who seemed to have a gift for socialising. They would have walked back up to the common room if it hadn't been for Sirius turning up saying how he desperately needed to talk to James. Lily would never admit it, but she had been a little disappointed that they couldn't continue their conversation. The project didn't seem so daunting to her anymore.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sorry for the delay! I was typing this chapter and accidentally deleted everything. It was very frustrating and I lost half an hour's work. I will now try and update weekly (every Monday hopefully) to try and keep things regular. Enjoy and review if you have any feedback! **

* * *

Snape was not at all pleased to see the blossoming friendship between Lily and most of the Marauders. They seemed to be going _everywhere_ together: eating, studying and walking to classes. Most of the time they were laughing and joking or they were deep in discussion, clearing not wanting to be bothered by the world around them. Lily spent the majority of her time with Potter and Lupin, who seemed to have forgiven her after the incident at the Shrieking Shack a few weeks ago. Both Potter and Lily had never looked happier than when they were talking or spending time with one another. He had tried to bring this up with Lily and it had not gone down too well.

"It's really none of your business who I hang out with besides you, Sev!" she said, crossing her arms.

He sighed, "It's my business because I care for you and I think Potter is only bad news! You saw what he was that night! You don't know what other dangerous and illegal secrets he's hiding!" Dumbledore had talked to Snape about not telling anyone about Remus' lycanthropy or the other three's illegal secret. That wasn't the only reason Snape hadn't told his friends though. He knew how much telling would hurt Lily, especially when she had just established a friendship with the Marauders.

"Please Lily, don't hang out with them. You have other friends; you don't need the Marauders."

She sighed, "I appreciate their company. They're not as evil as you make them out to be Sev."

Even Lily could admit that wasn't entirely true. They had spent years tormenting Severus and calling him Snivellus. That seemed to have not happened so often since the incident by the lake last year so she thought her point was still valid.

Snape just rolled his eyes. "You'll come to your senses soon," he stalked off, leaving a dumbfounded Lily standing alone in the middle of the corridor, not able to believe that she and Sev were, yet again, fighting.

He had gone back to his common room in a bad mood that night, not able to keep his mind off the image of Lily and the Marauders laughing and joking together. It had probably been inevitable. They were all in the same house and Potter had a way of manipulating people in his favour. Snape had just thought that Lily would always think that he was an arrogant toerag.

Malfoy, Lestrange, Avery and Black were sitting in the corner of the corner room, looking suspicious as they were all hunched over around a coffee table and speaking in hushed tones. Malfoy and Lestrange were in the year above Snape and had been in contact with the Dark Lord; they had bragged about it a lot and made sure it wasn't something that the other Slytherins forgot. Lestrange beckoned Snape over.

"The Dark Lord thinks it would be a good idea to prove to the wizarding world that even Hogwarts isn't a safe place. He wants us to make life for muggle-borns a living hell," said Lestrange proudly, making Bellatrix Black simper over him. "We think this would be the best group of people to accomplish our mission," He looked pointedly at Snape. "I hope your friendship with a _certain_ muggle-born won't come in the way of that."

Snape smirked in his best attempt at deception, "She means nothing to me."

No one had any idea of how true the opposite was.

* * *

A few weeks went by before Snape tried to talk to Lily again. He realised that arguing with her would only push her further into Potter's arms and that was something he was determined to stop from happening. He'd spotter her walking along a corridor with Potter and Mckinnon, all of them laughing at a joke Lily had just made. Snape stared at her fondly and took a moment to appreciate the way her wavy red hair fell over her shoulders and the crinkles in the corner of her eyes as she smiled. A smile that was aimed at Potter. Nothing could infuriate Snape more.

Snape caught her arm before she walked by. "Can we talk?" he murmured, waiting for her friends to move on. They didn't. "_in private_." he added.

Lily glanced back at her friends before replying. "I would prefer it if they could stay here."

Snape scowled, "_Lily_.." he said in a low tone as Lily tried to shrug his hand off of her arm.

"I think she said that she'd appreciate if we stayed here." Potter drawled and Snape sneered at him.

"Trying to be her bodyguard, Potter?"

"Actually Snape, I'm trying to respect her wishes."

Both Lily and Snape were surprised by his more mature response and the lack of name-calling. Lily was pleased that he hadn't tried to pick a fight with her friend. She knew it would only cause more trouble.

Snape's face flushed, "How _dare_ you insinuate that I don't want what's best for Lily."

Potter smirked, "The company you choose to hang out with it just confirms it."

It was then that Snape punched him squarely on the nose.

Potter staggered backwards, bringing his hand up to his face to try and stop the flow of blood. "Damn you, Snape."

Unexpectedly, it had been Lily that jumped to Potter's defence.

"Sev! How could you!"

He watched as she asked Potter if he was OK; no one could miss the tenderness with which she said it. She turned back to Snape with a look of absolute fury.

"Go. Never try and talk to me or my friends again."

Snape froze and stared at Lily who was already trying to escort Potter to the hospital wing, her arm around his torso, letting him rest some of his weight onto her. He watched as Potter laughed and tried to reassure her that is wasn't _that _big of a deal. He watched as one of the last things he would ever say to her came out of his mouth,

"Have fun with the blood traitors, mudblood."

There was a moment of silence as she turned back to look at him, the shock evident on her face.

It was at that moment another fist came flying out of the air and punched Snape, who was knocked to the ground by the surprise attack. Sirius Black stood proudly over him.

"You know you deserved that," he said before chasing after Lily and Potter, with Pettigrew and Lupin tagging along behind him. Snape could hear Lupin reprimanding Black as they got further away and he heard the soft sound of Lily's laugh mixed with Potter's as the other three caught up.

Snape never felt more alone than he did right then.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hello again! I know it isn't Monday (this makes me look useless) but I won't be able to update on Monday so have decided to just update today. It's an extra-long chapter :) Thank you GinnyWeasley09 for your lovely reviews, both made me smile and I hope you enjoy this chapter as well! Bye and please review (it gives me more incentive and stops me from being a nervous wreck about my writing) xx **

**Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling so I don't own any of this.**

* * *

All the girls were hanging out in their dormitory later that night. Lily was reading a book on her bed, Marlene was trying to sort through the pile of clothes on her bed, Alice was doing homework at her desk and Paige was painting her nails a brilliant red. Marlene quickly got bored of tidying and sat crossed-legged on her bed, looking at Lily. She primarily wanted to ask Lily about Snape, but she figured that Lily would not want to talk about that, so she went for the next best option.

"So Lily… how's James?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Madam Pomfrey fixed his nose so he should be totally fine."

That was not the answer Marlene had been looking for.

"But what's it like being friends with him?"

Lily put her book down on her bed and sat up, watching the expression of interest on Marlene's face that was framed by her blonde hair tied up in a messy ponytail.

"I'd call it toleration, Mar. We just don't see the point in hating each other when we have to live in such close proximity."

"Nothing else..?" Paige said suggestively, not even glancing up from her nails.

"No! We've only been on good terms for a few weeks! This is still the guy that called me a stuck-up know it all last time I rejected him, remember." Lily retorted indignantly. The conversation, that Lily had clearly just ended, moved onto complaining about schoolwork and then discussing which house might win the Quidditch trophy this year. This was how the girls spent most of their evenings: discussing what was going on at school or just sitting in companionable silence. It wasn't long before the conversation circled back round to boys though, as this _was_ one of Marlene's favourite topics.

"You and Remus seem to be getting on awfully well, Paige," Marlene said, smiling mischievously at her friend, who was now just reclining on her bed.

"We are." A hint of a flush rose on Paige's face. Over the past month, Remus and Paige had been talking a lot more often and they spent a lot of time alone together, away from their respective groups of friends. This hadn't been missed by those friends, who thought the idea of them being a couple was a brilliant idea, so they let them be. Except for now, as Paige was facing a lengthy interrogation.

Alice turned around from her desk. "Should I start trying to find my bridesmaid dress?" For this, she received a pillow to the face.

"Who said you _would_ be a bridesmaid?" Paige replied snarkily.

"Aha!" Marlene yelled, "That implies there _will_ be a wedding!"

She got the same treatment as Alice and all the girls had a good laugh. They all headed to bed in good spirits, wishing each other a good night and quickly drifting off to sleep.

* * *

The next morning was the morning of Halloween. It was also a Saturday so many students chose to remain in bed for the better half of the morning, as most teenagers would. This included the 6th year Gryffindors aside from the Marauders and, surprisingly, Lily. Halloween had been her favourite holiday. She used to spend the whole day with her sister, preparing their costumes and making sweet things in their kitchen for their mum to give to the neighbours. The entire evening was spent trick-or-treating; they always came back with bag-fulls of sweets. For Lily, all that remained now was the ghost of a friendship, which made her Halloweens especially difficult, but she wasn't going to let anyone else know that. This was why Lily headed down to breakfast with a huge grin plastered on her face, forgetting that all her friends were still asleep and being alone might look a _little_ bit odd.

The Marauders were awake because Halloween was the time for their best pranks. Each year, they planned a genius prank to wow and thrill the Hogwarts population and this year was no different. The pranksters pretty much ran down to the Great Hall to start planning this Halloween; what they hadn't expected was for Lily to be sitting eating. The sight of her was slightly shocking; they all knew that she wasn't a morning person after years of living with her. Her hair was in an immaculate ponytail and she wore a green jumper with black cobwebs stitched on, looking like the epitome of what one should look like on Halloween. The Marauders figured that they had to sit with her, seeing as she was their new friend and everything. Sirius wasn't too keen on this: he wasn't entirely over the incident last month but he couldn't do much to stop the others.

"Hullo, Lily," Remus said, sitting beside her as the others chose to sit on the opposite bench.

She gave them all a cheesy smile. This frightened them, as her eyes were completely void of any mirth and she looked like one of those creepy dolls that have a habit of haunting people.

James looked at her cautiously "Err… enjoying your breakfast?"

"It's delicious, as per."

The Marauders did not know what to say next. James and Remus were concerned, Peter was just confused and Sirius was wondering why the school didn't replace Muggle studies with the study of the female mind.

"Are you guys planning anything fun today?" Lily said, giving them each a merry look. She was very glad that they didn't seem to suspect anything.

"Nothing that we can tell you about; you'd get us put in detention," Sirius said bluntly.

Lily looked offended. "I'm not _that_ much of a goody-goody and telling me that is just as incriminating as telling me about what you are _actually_ going to do."

James then had an idea. "Prove it then," he said, "Join us in our pranking today."

Sirius then gave him a hard kick under the table, which he chose to ignore in his determination to stop Lily being an emotionless robot.

"Alright..." Lily answered, with a huge amount of uncertainty. Breaking the rules was definitely not her forte.

James then dove right into the plans for the day, ignoring the expression on Lily's face. "Right, last year was a huge success but we want to try and top it this year. Any ideas?"

Remus excitedly chimed in "I have been thinking about this for weeks and I think I've got the perfect idea-"

Lily interrupted "I thought you were the responsible one out of all of the Marauders, Remus"

He turned to her and smirked "No Lily, I'm just the best at not getting caught. The brains of the operation, if you will. Anyways, " He continued, not noticing the dismayed look Lily was giving him. "I thought we should have four different pranks for the four houses and then a grand finale at the feast tonight." The boys all nodded in agreement. "For Slytherin, I thought the green of their robes would look great with some sort of Halloween themed adjustments. For Ravenclaw, we could charm them into saying a Halloween fact every time someone says their name or tries to address them. For Hufflepuff, every time they are in a two-meter radius of a Slytherin, they have to jump up on them. I couldn't think of anything for Gryffindor or the finale though."

The others thought in silence before Lily nervously piped up. "What if... we slipped Amortentia into all the pumpkin juice."

Sirius rolled his eyes "That's impossible Lily, to get that much Amortentia we'd have to get into Slughorn's supplies."

"That's not too impossible with me" Lily retorted, with a sly smile.

That was how, only five minutes later, Lily, James and Peter were knocking on Slughorn's office door. Sirius and Remus had got to work on the other pranks. A disgruntled looking Slughorn answered, but his mood immediately lightened when he saw his favourite pupil standing there.

"Lily, m'dear! What can I do for you this early?"

"Well sir, I had a question about Amortentia that had me tossing and turning all night. Would you mind if I took some to look at?"

Slughorn didn't seem to think this was a strange request at all and let all three of his students into his store cupboard. He then bustled off to go and eat his breakfast. Peter stood to watch at the door whilst Lily and James searched the cramped store for Amortentia, the close proximity making Lily rather uncomfortable. They soon found the bottles that were labelled as the powerful love potion. Lily undid the cap of one and took a sniff to check if it was in date. She couldn't smell anything but the slight scent of James' aftershave coming off of him. James was doing the same with another bottle and he also couldn't smell anything but the recognisable scent of raspberry and coconut coming off of Lily's hair.

"They can't all be out of date!" Lily exclaimed, opening up bottle after bottle.

"Wormy!" James called "We can't do the prank; all the potions are too old."

"Seriously?" Peter nudged himself in between the small space between Lily and James, taking one of the potions. "Nah.. this is fine. I can smell toffee, woodland..." he took another whiff "and is that cheese..?"

James and Lily glanced at each other before both quickly averting their eyes and pretending to be fascinated by other things, James ran a shaky hand through his hair.

James read one of the labels that had been stuck onto some of the vials. "This was brewed by Snivellus, Wormtail, look! If we slipped this into the pumpkin juice-" he chuckled and grabbed a few vials of it. "Let's go get this into the pumpkin juice before everyone has eaten their breakfast."

The three dashed off, Lily's mind preoccupied with the implications of the Amortentia's smell.

Halloween was proving to be a very entertaining one this year. Everyone was calling to the Ravenclaws and everyone knew that Halloween could be traced back to the Celtic festival of Samhain or that it is the second highest-grossing holiday commercially after Christmas. Slytherins' heads occasionally turned into bright orange pumpkins which, as Remus said, went very well with their robes - if they chose to wear them. They also kept being jump scared by the Hufflepuffs, who weren't all under the influence of the charm. Snape was now the object of about half of the Gryffindors' affections and he couldn't go anywhere without a grand gesture from one of them. The best one today had been one of the 7th year Gryffindor boys getting on one knee and announcing his undying love whilst his friends sang 'I can't help falling in love with you' in the background.

Lily's mind was successfully taken off Petunia and she was enjoying laughing along with the Marauders. Sirius had also started warming up to her with all the festivities which made Lily feel much more welcome. Yet, Lily could not take her mind off the Amortentia. James was attractive, with his toned body and boyish grin, but Lily knew that any feelings she had for him were friendly, at most. James had also been surprised by the Amortentia. He knew he had a crush on Lily, but he didn't think it was large enough for the Amortentia to smell like her, and only her. This made things very awkward between the two of them and they went the rest of the day without speaking to each other, only giving each other hesitant looks.

The five sat down that afternoon together to discuss the grand fin. Lily and James managed to successfully avoid eye contact. They came up with an idea that the boys thought was definitely their best yet; even Lily was rather excited.

At the feast, Lily sat with her friends who were oblivious to the fact that Lily had been pranking all day.

"Where were you today, Lily? You missed our annual walk around the lake," Alice questioned, a slight frown covering her pretty face.

"I was in the Library studying."

"We didn't see you when we looked."

"You must have just looked when I was taking a toilet break, sorry guys" Lily wasn't in the mood to justify herself to her friends. After all, the most rebellious thing she would ever do was about to take place, so her stomach was a bundle of nerves. She looked further down the table at the Marauders, trying to see if they were showing any qualms. All four of them were just laughing about something, looking like the picture of innocent teenage boys that weren't just about to pull off a huge prank.

Lily glanced up at the ceiling, watching the huge dark rain clouds forming above them. No one suspected a thing; even Dumbledore was just serenely eating his dinner. It was nearly time for the prank. By the time all the dishes for the main course had disappeared, the clouds had formed a dark blanket above them, waiting ominously.

Every drop of water that those clouds were holding onto was suddenly released, drenching the students below. The Marauders and Lily had planned this prank so that they wouldn't get wet so, right on cue, red and gold umbrellas appeared above the Gryffindors' and teachers' tables. All anyone could hear were the shrieks and cries of the rest of the school as they were drenched by the water coming from the real clouds up above. Suddenly, the rain stopped pouring and the clouds disappeared to show the beautiful sunset happening behind them and everyone and everything was dry again. There was much laughing and then a round of applause, making the Marauders look very pleased with themselves as they bowed and blew kisses to the crowd. One of the Marauders though only had eyes for a certain red-head on the Gryffindor table and he gave her a conspiratorial wink. Then the dessert appeared and the attention was taken back off the Marauders.

Halloween 1976 was a success.


End file.
